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David Stafford

Churchill and Secret Service Paperback – January 28, 2021

by David Stafford (Author)

98 ratings

Part of: David Stafford World War II History (9 books)

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'A fascinating narrative and a scholarly exegesis' - SUNDAY TIMES

Uniquely among modern British statesmen, Churchill believed passionately in the value of secret intelligence both in peace and war.

As a young correspondent and soldier in Cuba, India, Sudan and South Africa, he experienced its worth at first hand. Later, preoccupied by fears of German spying before World War I, he was a member of the Cabinet that established the Secret Service.

Churchill helped ensure the passing of the Official Secrets Act of 1911, and was the first Home Secretary to authorise general warrants for the secret interception of mail. As wartime Prime Minister he built a centralised intelligence community, created the Special Operations Executive to work behind enemy lines, and with Roosevelt built the transatlantic intelligence alliance that endures to this day.

Based on wide-ranging sources, many never explored or only recently released, Churchill and Secret Service offers an intriguing insight into both modern intelligence and the mind and character of Churchill himself.

Part of series

David Stafford World War II History
Print length

412 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Lume Books
Publication date

January 28, 2021
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.92 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

1839012641
ISBN-13

978-1839012648
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Editorial Reviews

Review

'A first-rate and, what is more remarkable, an original contribution to Churchilliana' - KIRKUS REVIEWS

'An excellent and long overdue book' - LITERARY REVIEW

'A startlingly good book' - SPECTATOR

'A fascinating narrative and a scholarly exegesis' - SUNDAY TIMES

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lume Books (January 28, 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 412 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1839012641
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1839012648
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.15 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.92 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,857,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,481 in Espionage True Accounts
- #4,260 in Intelligence & Espionage History
- #4,933 in Political Intelligence

Customer Reviews:
98 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

98 global ratings

5 star		47%
4 star		36%
3 star		12%
2 star		2%
1 star		3%

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J. Collins

Groundbreaking work on Churchill

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 22, 1999

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"Churchill and Secret Service" documents the life long connection between him and secret intelligence. The author traces this back to Churchill's experience as a journalist in the Cuban revolt against Spain. His romantic nature, combined with the undisputed effectiveness of the guerillas, instilled in him a faith in guerilla warfare and its requirement of good intelligence. The book continues through Churchill's association with "room 40" during WWI, and his continued receipt of intelligence reports during the years "in the wilderness". Naturally the bulk of the work concerns itself with the Second World War, the creation of SOE and the secret armies. The author delves into the "special relationship" between the UK and US and reveals in detail the serious conflicts between SIS/SOE and the OSS-an area that often does not receive much attention by historians. Churchill's second term as prime minister,and subsequent retirement conclude the work. What it shows is that Churchill, probably more than any other political leader, understood the value and the dangers of secret intelligence, and knew how to employ it (most of the time). His experience provides excellent lessons to those who collect or use strategic/operational intelligence,"intelligence was not an end in itself and did not belong to those who produced it." Would that our current intelligence structure followed this advice...

11 people found this helpful

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David L. Parnell

The reader should rediscover Winston Churchill...you might be surprised.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 31, 2018

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Wow...how the dark side of elitism and war is omitted from history. You must read more to learn of the true character of Winston Churchill. The dirt of history is left on the floor of reality and most texts and articles have been redacted from reality. This book is a start...but the reader should continue to rediscover Winston Churchill.

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Red House

A little more time spent on Churchill's life and career ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 4, 2014

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A little more time spent on Churchill's life and career, and the times in which he lived, would be helpful to making this book more readable and more interesting. I found myself going to the internet often to look up passing references of names and events to understand what the author was conveying about Churchill. I realize many many books have been written as traditional birth-to-death biographies about him, but that doesn't mean we've all read them, as the author perhaps has. I couldn't get through the whole book because it was too technical, too myopic.

One person found this helpful

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ME

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 14, 2017

good

Not as good as the authors other books.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 19, 2013

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Factual, but dry, not half as good as the other books by the author, some what disappointing but can serve as a good reference.

One person found this helpful

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Meredith Martin

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 28, 2014

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don't remember buying this

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K.Mukerjee

A flawed account of a morally corrupt great man

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 5, 2000

As Stafford says that Churchill appreciated the value of good intelligence and how it could influence the outcome of any struggle .But on the whole I must express my profound disagreement on some of the information contained in this book. The LUSITANIA episode: Fortuitously-Magdeburg incident 26th August 1914- the Room no.40 of the British Admiralty cracked German Navy's tactical codes .Bulk of naval traffic related to the movements of U-boats and German High Seas Fleet it was able to read .Churchill as the First Lord of Admiralty was privy to this fact .What now follows is difficult to digest for a rational mind .If one were to believe the author the movement of U-20(which sank the American ship)was detected and all ships in the immediate vicinity warned of its presence.Message received by LUSITANIA but ship's captain instead of changing course continued with the voyage thus courting disaster. In other words author has implied the American ship was commanded by a mad man who sent her to the watery grave, a chain of reasoning difficult to follow.It looks as though Stafford wanted to defend the British leader from accusations of his detractors who have claimed the latter staged the incident to bring America on a collision course with Germany. It is very hard to accept Churchill's innocence in certain matters because I know him as a shrewd practitioner of Realpolitik .Desmond Morton ( an influential figure in the Whitehall corridors of power and later SIS officer )connived with Churchill to forge Zinoviev's letter which damaged Labour Party's electoral prospects in the early 20's. Coming to the Second World War, soon after the captitulation of France there came invasion hysteria . Now it must be said when it came to invading Britain the Nazi dictator was strangely reluctant . Early July 1940 Hitler disclosed his intention of invading Soviet Union to Schmundt his chief-adjutant and Von Brauchitsch the Army Commander-in-Chief .Churchill via ULTRA decrypts knew that much of German troop deployments along Channel coast was sham. Yet he kept up the invasion bogey because this was bringing public support. Later in January 1941U.S.Presidential envoy Harry Hopkins visit to war-torn Britain was stage-managed to draw American support for Britains' war effort. Author has demolished claims that Churchill sacrificed Coventry (heavily bombed by Luftwaffe on 14 November 1940) for protecting ULTRA. The target was identified very late but the argument that it was not brought to PM's attention sounds skeptical. Instead Crete was sacrificed .However I am of the view that Britsh Commonwealth forces could have defended the island without blowing ULTRA.The battle for Crete hinged upon the possession of Maleme airfield . A spotter aircraft could have been sent to show it had detected the approach of German aerial armada carrying elite paratroops instead of denuding Maleme defences for masking ULTRA.The exercise is cleverly contrived attempt to cover up British Middle East Command's lack of resolve in defending Crete.I endorse Stafford's view that British leader was not knowing Japanese plans to attack Pearl Harbor.However it is difficult to accept the naivete of US political establishment in this matter . Suffice to say the US intelligence had broken codes used by Tokyo to exchange information with Consul -General Kita in Honolulu.String of messages showing Japan taking unusual interest in Pearl Harbor were intercepted . One such message intercepted divided the place into five areas asked for exact location of Pacific Fleet warships and carriers . Washington correctly guessed this could be a grid system for a bombing attack.Had Roosevelt and his men been shrewd ,vigilant, the ensuing tragedy could have been averted The author has misinterpreted the train of events that led to the German intervention in the Balkans April-May 1941. It was Mussolini who dragged Hitler into the Balkan mess .On 28 October 1940 Italian troopsinvaded Greece . Invaders were soon bogged down which gave British the pretext to land troops in that country .Besides RAF bombers started operating from bases in Crete.They had the range to strike Ploesti in Rumania from where Wehrmacht drew bulk of its oil..British deployment also menaced the southern flank of German armies slated to take part in Barbarossa :invasion of Soviet Union .Germany intervened to neutralise the flank threat . Churchill's role in fomenting guerilla warfare in Nazi-occupied Europe forms underlying theme of this book. British leader's brush with partisans in the far reaches of the Empire during heydays of his youth made him advocate this mode of fighting. It must be said , however , in the final analysis the role of the guerillas in the victory over Nazi Germany appears minimal.Owing to reasons of geography guerilla warfare never struck roots in Europe,much of the continent lay inert under the Nazi jackboot.Exceptions being Greece , Yugoslavia where mountainous terrain favoured large -scale guerilla operations .Finally a few things I like about this book: Churchill during prewar years exaggerated the capabilities of Luftwaffe,failed to appreciate the role tanks would play in the coming war ,underestimated the threat posed by Japan . Information such as that he bought Spain's neutrality in the war through bribes , came very close to compromising ULTRA during the speech marking German invasion of Soviet Union , approved a plan to assassinate Hitler , 'Operation Foxley', came close to carrying it out. Upon reading this book I gained the impression that Stafford has condoned the British leader's misdemeanours ,author no doubt is a Churchill apologist. To me Churchill was the most reactionary politician thrown up by the Western World. He stroved to ensure the Britains' domination of the post war world .He resisted Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy not because they were fascist regimes rather to their interference with Britains' imperial interests. Neverthless a remarkable man ,patriot who presided his country's fortune at a critical time of her existence .To his credit it must also be said Churchill realised, unlike other leaders of the Conservative party, the threat posed by Nazi Germany could only be contained by entering into a defence alliance with the Soviet union .In June1940 he took the decisive step in his career by deciding to continue the war against Germany.

10 people found this helpful

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k.odonnell

Book condition is actually better than described!!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 7, 2021

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Book is great. Vendor provides accurate delivery info. Book exactly as described.

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DiveDoc

Catastrophic enthusiasm

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 7, 2017

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A book that begins with the ill-fated restoration of the Shah and an old man's febrile enthusiasm cannot end well. Churchill's glory in 1940 and his staunch belief in the relationship with the USA that was ruthlessly exploited by Roosevelt and betrayed by Truman, lapsed into his characteristic meddling in the affairs of experts, be they spies, generals and admirals, boffins or historians. Churchill's greatness is diminished by the number of uncritical histories celebrating his amateur status once beyond Westminster and the White House. In many ways the Sidney Street siege, the Welsh miners' strike and Gallipoli were more representative of the man than was the Battle of Britain (although the dismissal of Hugh Dowding is of a piece). David Stafford celebrates Curchill's aristocratic confidence, his patrician paternalism, his patrician disdain for working men and his patrician enmity should they choose their own, socialist, path. Churchill's secret service was always aimed against the left, only sometimes against Britain's enemies. It is to David Stafford's credit as an author and historian that this emerges from his story. It is to his shame that it is not analysed. Did Churchill have a positive effect on British Intelligence? I still don't know...

5 people found this helpful

H. M. Sykes

An excellent take on a rather well covered theme.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 31, 2013

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Lord Jenkins, in the introduction to his latest book on Churchill, admits that his is one of 50-100 different books on Sir Winston's life and that presumably excludes Churchill's own prodigious output. So, the scope for casting new light on a very well covered subject is limited by definition. Churchill was a politician first and a recorder of history second, he believed strongly that history is written by the victor.

This leaves a number of niche subjects involving Churchill that bear further investigation and Mr Stafford seems to have struck a plum one. Churchill was obsessed with intelligence and Stafford shows this trait in him from an early age. Plenty of facts, not many new but well sourced, intertwine with a well-balanced overall view of WW2. The whole is easy reading, has a good pace and is informative and enjoyable.

I would certainly recommend it to anyone interested in early 20th century espionage or WW2 or Churchill himself.

2 people found this helpful

Tommo47

Truly revealing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 5, 2013

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A remarkable insight into Churchill's life and times. The double-edged sword of Intelligence is vividly demonstrated, and is as politically potent today as in the World
Wars of Churchill's experience. I now have a much greater appreciation of Churchill's huge burden of responsibility,
his energy and political bravery at a time of life when most people would have been enjoying quiet retirement.

Clarsach

Winston

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 10, 2013

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A bit plodding and, at times, repetitive. It's entirely possible that WSC gave the secret services little or no thought as such (borne out by a couple of observations in this book), but expected them to deliver what they were paid for. Looks like he was largely disappointed; served by, variously, career civil servants, weirdos and charlatans. A good enough read, but not exactly a page-turner.

crumblie

Churchill & Secret Service

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 9, 2013

Verified Purchase

I have not read much of this book yet but I'm sure it will be an excellent read. I'm old enough to have lived through the second world war and much information was kept secret until quite recently so I will look forward to learning more about the Services described in this book.

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